This weekend’s gospel points us to the very foundation of our faith! A scholar of the law asks Jesus, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” And Jesus replies: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Mt 22:36-40)
Naturally, we can read this and focus our energy on these two key rules that God gives us and expects us to follow. From there, we can examine our lives and ask: Where am I loving God and others well? Where can I do better? This opens us into the Church’s rich moral teaching and a study on the virtues. It is all very good, to the extent that it helps us grow in love of God and neighbor. And of course to grow in that kind of love is also to grow in freedom, joy, and peace in this life, and to grow towards life with God forever in heaven. What more could we need?
Yet I keep discovering there is something deeper driving this. I mentioned above that this weekend’s readings point us to the foundation of our faith. It may be assumed I was referencing this twofold commandment, but loving God and loving others is all about what I myself do, and if my faith rests merely on my own actions and ability, than I am without hope. Scripture tells us again and again, and in countless ways, that my salvation is impossible by my own initiative, no matter how clear my understanding of God’s law, no matter how greatly I desire to follow Him.
The foundation of our faith is the undying, unquenchable, love of God for us, who never stops pouring His life into us and only then inviting our generous and whole-hearted response. Yes, I am truly commanded to love God and love others, and yes, it is only in following those commands that I will find peace, joy, and freedom, and eternal glory. Yet my favorite apostle, St. John, puts it so succinctly: “We love because he first loved us. ” (1 Jn 4:19).
So this week, instead of asking: “Am I loving God and others enough?” what if I started by asking a different question: “Am I letting God love me enough?” It is not weakness to need God and to fervently seek more of His love – it is our only true strength!
~Fr John Rumpza, Parochial Vicar